Jeff Cohen...is a superstar.

Having Jeff come to the class on Tuesday was a total eye opener.  As I approach graduation and the horrific fact that I actually have to grow up and do something with my life, I realize that my goals and ideas of where I'll be are constantly changing.  Big corporate media is always the aspiration of budding journalists.  We want to be the next Katie Couric or the next staff writer of the New York Times.  We're jaded by the fame and the desk at 30 Rock and all of the flashy parts of big media.  But we forget the base of the job...real reporting and journalism.  The idea that a corporation would silence or restrict the work I do, or compromise my journalistic integrity like they did to Jeff, is appalling.  Independent media is looking better by the second.  It's a journalists rebellion! Digging up real stories, uncovering and exposing problems, working to solutions, all while sticking it to the man.  I might have found my niche.  I guess we'll see.  I am saddened that my Cinderella dream of becoming the next Joan London or Barbara Walters isn't as fairly tale as I thought.  But I am excited by the new possibilities and all that digital and independent media has to offer.   Hopefully there's a place waiting for me somewhere...

Tabloidization...

I fully believe that there is a place for celebrity news, gossip, and all things Hollywood. But not on the pages of some of the most respected newspapers and news programs we have. I'm all about information. Celebrity news is information whether we like to believe it or not and it belongs in tabloids and little flimsy papers you find at the checkout of the supermarket. Newspapers are the place where the public should be getting the information they NEED to know, not necessarily what they WANT to know. I agree with the article in the CJR that if newspapers want to take on pop culture, do it in an educational and informative way by looking at cause and effect on our society. Journalists are supposed to help people make responsible decisions, be good citizens, and to understand the world around them through information that we dig up and often analyze and put together. The things that end up on the pages of tabloids don't really fit the mold. So go ahead New York Times, take on pop culture, but don't see it and spit it back at us. Look for trends, study cause and effect, and try to remember our purpose, otherwise, you're no more credible than the STAR.

Agenda Setting

Agenda setting in the news industry is so frustrating to me!  The part that really gets me is that fact that I feel so helpless, that there is so little I can do and that the whole field of journalism is plagued by it.  Agenda setting is dangerous.  If journalists, editors, and makers of news media aren't careful with what they present and how they present it, they can create a whole different version of the truth that can cloud the perception of an audience.  But the problem is that we can't put everything on the front page and we can't even cover every problem an every event that happens in a day due to lack of resources.  So do we just give up?? I hope to see a smaller gap between what's important to the public and what is displayed in the news.  The only way to make this work is to ignore the financial pressures and executives and use the passion we have for the people we cover to put out what is important to them.  News should be service, not a product.  But we can't do it alone.  I think people in the news industry right now need to re-evaluate why they're here. 

A Year in the News

The article "A Year in the News" from the Project for Excellence in Journalism was an eye opener for me when it comes to the state of the industry and journalism as a whole. A few things stuck in my mind after reading it that are absolutely appalling to me. First of all, the fact that the number of stories in the news agenda is shrinking is dangerous for everyone. Journalistic stories need legs. When something happens, be it tragedy or war or triumph, the event itself is important but more important is how we got there and what can be done to prevent the bad and succeed in the future. It's the stories that follow big events in history that could lead us on the right path. Another thing that bothered me is the lack of attention that the news industry is paying to the information needs and wants of their audience. When I saw the graph of audience interest to coverage, I can't help but ask why?? I understand that advertising is important and the world turns by money but we have to go to the roots of our profession and realize why we do what we do. We are supposed to inform, educate, be a voice to the ordinary citizen, and work to make life better through understanding and information. If we lose sight of the stories that are important to the people we serve, we'll lose everything. I could go on forever I suppose, but dinner time calls! More next time...

The Future of Media in the World!

Watching the EPIC 2014 and Prometheus presentations in class was interesting today and I was surprised to find that they seem eerily accurate. I think the idea of the prosumer is the future of journalism and that civic or citizen journalism will take the future by storm. It seems that the large corporations such as google, microsoft, amazon etc. will be the forums for the new format of news. The fact that citizens can get closer to events and witness them as they happen (even better perhaps than newspeople) will change the face of media along with technology. It does seem difficult to believe that such large conglomerations like google or microsoft would ever merge but according to the general trend...it's not out of the question. I think that with more and more people involved in the media and media corporations growing larger and larger, media could possibly overpower the government when it comes to public opinion. Governments will have to be a lot more careful on how they conduct the administration due to the fact that government secrets will be harder and harder to keep. Also, with this kind of power in the hands of regular citizens, I find it hard to believe that dictatorships and authoritarian governments will continue to exist.

Public Diplomacy in the New Administration?

The issue of Public Diplomacy is a tricky one. I have a hard time letting the government get away with broadcasting straight propaganda to other countries. It all has to do with the unequal flow of information for me. It would be completely different if we were getting all different radio stations full of public diplomacy from other countries (including the developing ones) but unfortunately that's just not the case. I have no problem with putting opinions out there as long as there are opoosing opinions to counter and balance it. For people with little government and few political ideas to grasp, US public diplomacy could be brainwashing and downright intimidating. I think that the new administration can broadcast American ideals and systems but without calling them supreme or seeing them as the end all (or "End of History") if you will. I'll say it again and again, who says American style democracy is the best model? Fact of the matter is that it is still a baby in the scheme of things. It is short sighted to say we won't find a better way....

Media Systems in the UK, Canada, and Japan

Figuring out media systems is difficult! So here goes nothin...

In the UK I believe that the primary media system is the Social Responsibility model with the Libertarian model following close behind. In the pring world in the UK, there are a lot of newpapers and magazines to choose from that are privately owned! The marketplace of ideas is quite free. However, in the broadcast world, the UK puts quotas on programs of public importance (news, childrens' programming etc.) There is also a govt. owned television broadcaster (BBC!). I feel that the UK has a stronger governmental presence in the media than the others.

Canada was especially difficult to determine. I believe the primary media system is the Libertarian model with Social Responsibility model as the secondary one. The media is very similar to the US and although there are quotas on how much nat'l content must be played, the quota can be overlooked if there isn't enough of the nat'l content to play.

In Japan, I believe that the primary media system is Libertarian with the secondary being Democratic-Participant. The govt. has a very small role it seems in the media world. There is a variety of programming with very few restrictions. People are very interested and invested in the media in Japan as well according to the time they spend with it each day. People have very good internet access as well with very very few restricitons compared to even the US!